September 26, 2001 – Disturbed revealed the darker side of humanity to their Denver audience during the first show of their current tour. Before the Chicago-based band took the stage, fans were shown a film that "depicts the way society treats those who are different," in the words of lead singer David Draiman. Along with footage of Sadam Hussein gassing his own people, the crowd watched chaotic scenes of the Armenian genocide and the race riots of the '60s. Other images showing the Salem witch trials and the massacre at Wounded Knee further underlined humanity's history of senseless oppression. Throughout the presentation, phrases like "murdered for being different," "imprisoned for being different" and "disagree, disappear" are flashed across the screen to seal the presentation's powerful message.

The piece ends with scenes from Nazi Germany, including Hitler's Nuremberg speech, graphic images of prisoners and bodies in concentration camps and crematoriums. Says Draiman: "Both of my grandparents on my mother's side were in the concentration camps, but what we're talking about here isn't a Jewish thing, it's a people thing. It's everyone, whether it's the U.S. massacring native Americans for the sake of conquest, the Spanish Inquisition or any other movement that tried to force a way of life, torture or exterminate other people for being different from being the way that they are."

When the screen fades to black, a six-foot tall plexi-glass chamber stands alone in the center of the stage. Then, men dressed as uniformed soldiers escort Draiman onstage and into the structure. From out of a showerhead, gas fills up the green-lit chamber until Draiman falls motionless to the floor. After a moment of silence, Draiman emerged from the gas chamber as the other members of Disturbed -- guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist Fuzz and drummer Mike Wengren -- take to the stage and launched into "Conflict." Draiman explains: "It's basically the ultimate statement and example of how the world deals with people who do not fit in, how the world makes scapegoats, how the world justifies genocide and holocaust or anything else for the sake of purity and for the sake of conformity."

Along with songs from The Sickness, the band introduced new material that may appear on their next album. As Draiman noted before the tour's launch, the band was "going to be incorporating some new material into the set for lack of any other reason than we're dying to play some new songs."

Meanwhile, Disturbed's current single "Down With The Sickness" remains in the top ten on Billboard's Mainstream (#7) and Modern Rock Track charts (bulleted at #8) while #3 on the Active Rock chart. The song follows the success of singles "Stupify" and "Voices." The Sickness is currently #39 on Billboard's album chart after 72 consecutive weeks.

Current tour dates for the "Music As a Weapon" Tour, which also features Drowning Pool, Adema, Stereomud and Systematic, are as follows:

September
27 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Center
28 - Dallas, TX - Bronco Bowl
29 - San Antonio, TX - Sunken Garden Amphitheatre
30 - Austin, TX - Auditorium Shores

October
2 - Lubbock, TX - West Texas Canyon Amphitheater
3 - Albuquerque, NM - Albuquerque Convention Center
5 - West Hollywood, CA - The Palladium
6 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
7 - Salt Lake City, UT - E Center
9 - Kansas City, KS - Memorial Hall
10 - Lincoln, NE - Pershing Auditorium
12 - Wichita, KS - Kansas Coliseum
13 - Evansville, IN - Mesker
14 - Chattanooga, TN - McKenzie Arena
16 - Lafayette, IN - Rielle Bros
17 - Rockford, IL - Metro Center
19 - Grand Rapids, MI - Deltaplex
20 - Columbus, OH - Promowest Pavilion
25 - Estero, FL - TECO Arena
26 - Miami, FL - Bayfront Park
27 - Tampa, FL - WXTB Radio Show
28 - Orlando, FL - WJRR Festival
30 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant

November
2 - Peoria, IL - Civic Center
3 - Dayton, OH - Hara Arena
4 - Detroit, MI - State Theatre
5 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
6 - Pittsburgh, PA - Beaver County Goldendome
8 - Asbury Park, NJ - Asbury Park Convention Hall
9 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
10 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
16 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center
17 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Arena